Giant Fears
by King Caspian the Seafarer
Summary: While in Ettinsmoor with Puddleglum and Jill, Eustace can't sleep as he begins to have second thoughts about the quest to find Prince Rilian. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Narnia. **

**A/N: This takes place when Puddleglum, Eustace, and Jill are camped out on Ettinsmoor on their way to the ruins of the giant city, or Harfang, which they will end up heading for later. This story was sort of inspired by a few sentances from the book, the Silver Chair, which I was reading (again) the other day, that I hadn't really taken much notice of before.**

_"Don't you know? I thought the owls had told you. They're giants."_

_Jill winced. She had never liked giants even in books, and she had once met one in a nightmare. Then she saw Scrubb's face, which had turned rather green, and thought to herself, "I bet he's in a worse funk than I am." That made her feel braver. (Chap. 5 SC)_

_…the great thing was that they met hardly any giants. One giant saw them, but he only roared with laughter and stumped away about his own business. (Chap. 6 SC)_

**So that was kind of my inspiration for this fic. Enjoy, and I would love a review if you had time. Like really really love. ;)**

**And Pole (oh I'm sorry LADY JILL), if you're reading this and you're about to get mad because you think it's a Eustace/Jill, fear not. It's only a friendship fic. ;) **

**_-Giant Fears-_**

On the windy wasteland of Ettinsmoor, three figures wrapped in coarse blankets huddled around a smoldering fire. Eustace Scrubb stared thoughtfully at the tiny flames that burned on the last of their logs, the one Puddleglum had thrown in before lying down.

Eustace glanced over at the Marshwiggle, sprawled like a scarecrow over the rocky ground, snoring loudly. Jill was curled up in her cozy blanket, her fair face, and curly hair glowing in the firelight. Her long, dark lashes rested on her cheek, and a soft sigh escaped her as she dreamed.

Eustace smiled faintly. Jill looked so peaceful while she was asleep. Looking at her now, one could hardly believe how fierce she was during the day. Reluctantly, he turned back to the fire. Something about this place made him uneasy; the rocks, the cold…and the giants.

When he had first heard that Ettinsmoor was the home of giants, Eustace had hardly believed it. Caspian had beaten the giants…hadn't he? Eustace bit his lip and thought back. He said that he had. That first day that they were on board the Dawn Treader.

But the giants they had met in the gorge didn't look very subdued. In fact, they looked as if they were able enough to rebel against Narnia. They would have been, if they hadn't lacked the brains, Eustace thought with a slight grin. Giants weren't exactly the brightest creatures in Narnia.

Eustace gazed across Ettinsmoor, taking in the dark heather and rock covered landscape that stretched out under the sliver of moon that hung in the night sky. Dim stars dotted the sky around the moon, not as bright as they had been the night of the Owl's Parliament. The cold, harsh moor wind blew against his exposed face.

To his left was the gorge. And in it, the thunderous snore of a giant resounded every now and then. They didn't hear them all the time; only when one giant turned over in his sleep to face the opening of his cave. It was unnerving to Eustace to know that their enemies lurked less than a mile from where they slept. Puddleglum didn't seem to think that the giants were much of a threat, but earlier that day…

_"I say Pole, can't you go any faster?" Eustace asked, fidgeting as Jill clambered slowly up the rocky hill._

_"And I suppose _you_ did it faster?" Jill asked with a glare when she got to the top._

_"As a matter of fact I did," Eustace replied, matching her glare with one of his._

_"Now, now, humans, we don't want any fighting just yet. Save your energy," Puddleglum called to them dryly. "We've still got twenty more of these hills to climb before we rest, if you don't count the cliffs and crags that is."_

_Jill shifted her glare from Eustace to Puddleglum. That was the Marsh-wiggle's idea of an encouraging comment, though there was nothing encouraging about it that Eustace could see._

_"He is awfully pessimistic isn't he?" Eustace asked absently as Puddleglum turned and began walking quickly up the next hill._

_"Rather," Jill replied, forgetting that she had been angry with him a moment before. "I certainly hope the other Marsh-wiggles aren't _really _glummer than he is. I can't imagine _anyone _glummer than him."_

_"I shouldn't wonder if they are," Eustace said, deadpan, imitating their guide perfectly. "So glum that they can hardly bear to get up in the morning, most likely, since they're so sure that it'll rain or snow or that something terrible will happen."_

_"Oh no! I'll never survive with two of you!" Jill moaned, collapsing into giggles. _

_Eustace grinned widely at her, but his smile faded as a huge black shadow fell on them. Jill froze immediately. Then, they both looked up at the huge object that was obstructing the sun. Eustace heard Jill take in a quick breath, and he grabbed her hand, pushing her back behind him. Before them, standing between them and Puddleglum, was the biggest giant they had seen yet. _

_Eustace wasn't sure of what to do; he fumbled for his bow, but then saw Puddleglum motioning frantically from behind the giant, and he heard Jill whisper, "Don't move."_

_He froze. The giant smirked down at them, and then to Eustace's terror, roared with laughter, so loudly that both he and Jill jumped with fright. Then, the giant bent over, jabbering at them loudly in some strange language. _

_Then, with another guffaw, the giant picked up his huge foot and held it over them. Jill whimpered, and Eustace squeezed her hand. _

_The giant's foot came down…about a foot behind them. Eustace could have fainted with relief. Jill almost did. The giant stomped away, still laughing uproariously. _

_Eustace turned to Jill. She was paler than paper, and her blue eyes were still large with fear._

_"Oh Eustace!" she said shakily, slipping and using his first name._

_"It's all right, Jill," he said, trying to sound firm and brave. "It's all right."_

_Puddleglum reached them the next second._

_"Well that was a close call," he said dolefully, nodding as if he knew it would happen. "It's a good thing he didn't feel like squashing you then and there, or our __quest—"_

_"Puddleglum!" Jill and Eustace shouted together. _

_The Marshwiggle stopped and shook his head at them._

_"I'm just saying, it's best to remember that we came off lucky this time. But next time…" he let the words sink in. "Best keep our heads about us while we're on Ettinsmoor."_

_"Right," Eustace said. "Let's go on. Can you, Pole?"_

_"I think so," Jill said, her voice a bit stronger now. _

_She stood up and dusted herself off. _

_"Yes. Let's go on."_

Eustace shivered and drew his blanket tighter around him. It had been terrifying, no matter what Puddleglum said about what could have happened. Giants had always been his least favorite characters in fairy tales.

Not that he had heard many, but in the stories Reepicheep and Caspian had told him on the Dawn Treader, the giants were usually evil. Except for the Narnian giants, of course. But Reepicheep had a distinct dislike of giants, most likely because of the difference in height.

Eustace shivered again, remembering the dark smile on the giant's face. Stupid, yes; but also mocking, wicked.

The fire was barely burning now, and Eustace drew his blanket tighter about him. Why couldn't he sleep? Was it just what had happened? Was it the fear of it happening again? Or was he homesick, tired of this quest?

The last adventure he'd been on had been the voyage with Caspian on the Dawn Treader. But he'd had Lucy and Edmund with him then, and they'd known what to do on adventures.

Now, he was stuck with Jill, who knew absolutely nothing about quests and adventures. Now it was _his_ responsibility to know what to do. And Eustace wasn't sure that he did.

A dozen thoughts twisted through his mind.

_How will we find the prince? Where is the giant city? Won't the giant city have giants in it? Do we really want to meet more giants? _

Eustace groaned softly and put his head in his hands. He wanted to sleep. But sleep wouldn't come.

"Eustace?"

Eustace looked up, and saw Jill staring at him sleepily.

"Can't you sleep?" she asked.

He shook his head. Jill rubbed her eyes, and then sighed.

"What's wrong, Scrubb?" she said, not at all crossly like she usually spoke to him.

"Nothing's wrong," Eustace protested. "I just…" he sighed. " I'm not sure I know what I'm doing. What we're doing. On this quest, I mean."

Jill raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

Eustace sighed again.

"Well, how do we know we're going the right way? Will we just…well, find this prince, or is it going to be harder than we thought? And what about the giants?"

Jill shuddered and pulled her blanket tight.

"I hate giants," she said fervently. She looked up at him. "You don't think there will be…be more, do you?"

Eustace shrugged.

"I don't know."

They watched the glowing embers of the fire in silence. Then, Jill tossed her curls and glanced at Eustace with a stubborn look in her blue eyes.

"I don't care how many giants we meet," she said bravely. "Aslan told us to find Prince Rilian, and we have to do it. Don't worry—I think He knew we could do it before He told us to."

Eustace felt new determination enter his soul, and he nodded.

"Yes. Aslan knows what He's doing. Just don't forget those signs."

"Right," Jill said. "And Scrubb?"

"Yes?" Eustace said, turning back to the fire.

"Do try to get some sleep."

And with that, Jill closed her eyes and flipped over to a more comfortable position. Eustace watched her for a moment, and then lay down on the rocky ground, using his jacket as a pillow, and closed his eyes.

He could hear Jill muttering the signs to herself, and when he heard her abruptly stop at the phrase, "you will know the lost prince by this, that he will be the first…person…" he knew she had fallen asleep.

Grinning, he closed his eyes and finished the last sign for her.

"The first person you have met in all your travels who will ask you to do something in my name: in the name of Aslan."

The last four words resounded in Eustace's mind.

_The name of Aslan_…_Aslan_…_Aslan, help us_…

And then he was asleep.

Above the little camp, on the cliff peak that looked down upon them, a huge, shaggy beast shone silver in the moonlight. Had Eustace been awake, he would have known that his call was not in vain, even though it had not really been needed.

_Aslan, help us…_

_Finis_


End file.
